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“The issue is just my knowledge.”
Yes, knowledge is key with this niche…but once you acquire it, it’s certainly to your advantage. As an example…I was once near the back of the line at a book sale (not where you want to be) and figured I had little shot at finding anything of much quality. However, the majority of book sellers in front of me were using scanners…lo and behold, all of them missed a 1st edition of an F. Scott Fitzgerald book called “Tales of the Jazz Age” that I bought for $1 and sold for $450. The book wasn’t on their radar since it didn’t have a barcode. Mind you, I’m not at all minimizing the book scanning side of the business…no doubt there have been valuable books that I’ve overlooked because I don’t use a scanner…I’m just illustrating a difference between knowledge-based scavenging and technology-based scavenging.
Hi Jay – yup, I only sell the antique books…I don’t think there’s one book in my store right now with an ISBN/barcode. This niche is 100% “set it and forget it”…very long-tail. Some timeless classics like Walden and Alice in Wonderland can move quickly…for example, I listed a vintage copy of Peter Pan yesterday afternoon and it sold a few hours later. But many books are much more obscure and are waiting for that one particular buyer…for example I had an 1860’s book about the history of Haiti (obscure!) which took over a couple of years to sell, but when it did it went for a few hundred dollars so it was worth the wait. But it’s just as you talk about…creating a pipeline and things will sell consistently over time. When you were on your book kick, did you ever consider antique books?
Hi Scott – Keene’s a beautiful area! (Ironically, I wanted to go to “Eagle Books” in Keene yesterday, but they’re open by appointment only right now.) I do like this niche…there are some of us “regulars” who I know and see frequently at the sales, but not too many. Most book sellers here use scanners and aren’t looking for the antiquarian books. Yes, I deal exclusively with the older books. It sounds like our book scavenging experiences are similar…I haven’t ventured outside of New England yet, but certainly any opportunity from ME to CT is within reach.
I see what you’re saying…the expiration time frame of my listing may have dictated the expiration time of the offer. This seems to differ from what Jay and MDC Galleries have said, where the expiration time of the offer was actively/intentionally selected by the buyer. Interesting…
Since the offer was below 50% of my list price I just ignored it (I wasn’t hungry enough!). On a side note…I try to resist the urge to immediately “decline” offers like this because every now and then the buyer will come back with a stronger, more reasonable offer that will allow for a negotiation to begin.
